Mouton
11-13-2007, 01:29 PM
Just in time for the Swedish Hobby Fair I decided it might be fun to try a new type of RC vehicles. Together with some friends we showed off odd RC-vehicles (several 3 speeds and Tamiyas). Come to think of it, the only non-Tamiyas in our show room where my FG MT and Kyosho Nitro Blizzard...
Anyway, I got myself a Knight Hauler Metallic Special. Since I thoguht it would be convenient not to have to bother with paint at the fair I opted for the metallic body. I also got the MFU since I believe they help realise the trucks potential. As part of our showroom I started building it at the fair. It was great fun and very challenging to keep focus while talking to all the interested visitors.
One thing that sort of surprised me was that the servo tray for the coupler servo was not included in the MFU. That was a tat dissapointing but no biggie since I will get the support legs once I get a trailer.
Since I already have a Hilux from the early 1980's I already had a usable radio, I thus only needed two standard servos with extension cables.
I must say that it is the most time consuming build I have ever undertaken. It is without doubt the one with the most parts. Since I built my F-350 in two days including the paint job I really thought a three day fair would allow for a test drive before the closing. Boy was I in for a surprise...
I actually almost reached a rolling chassis by the end of the fair:
http://rsb.se/gallery/files/3/khh07.jpg
The gearbox was about to be greased and the propeller shaft were the only things missing in order to test drive it.
Once back home it was time to deal with the elctronics. For some reason Tamiya has decided that the Knight should use a much larger speaker box than the other trucks. In fact, so large that you will have to remove the seats and dashboard. I was omewhat surprised and started to browse the net and realized only very few trucks with the MFU have an interior. I definitely wanted to have the interior in mine so I simply used the speaker box intended for the King Hauler instead. This way I did not have to drill/saw/modify anything:
http://rsb.se/gallery/files/3/khelectr.jpg
When I testmounted the body I was dissappointed in the poor alignement of the body's front right wheel arch and the step plate. It appears that the parts holding it (Z2) are not entirely straight. I went online and noticed that this is a manufacturing flaw since most Knight Haulers had the same problem. It is easily fixed with a soldering iron/hot air gun. But still, this is the first Tamiya part I have ever had to modify myself in order to achieve a perfect fit - hence my surprise!
Since the windows are tinted I had to paint the interior with a brigher shade than my desired end result:
http://rsb.se/gallery/files/3/khdboard.jpg
Anyway, I got myself a Knight Hauler Metallic Special. Since I thoguht it would be convenient not to have to bother with paint at the fair I opted for the metallic body. I also got the MFU since I believe they help realise the trucks potential. As part of our showroom I started building it at the fair. It was great fun and very challenging to keep focus while talking to all the interested visitors.
One thing that sort of surprised me was that the servo tray for the coupler servo was not included in the MFU. That was a tat dissapointing but no biggie since I will get the support legs once I get a trailer.
Since I already have a Hilux from the early 1980's I already had a usable radio, I thus only needed two standard servos with extension cables.
I must say that it is the most time consuming build I have ever undertaken. It is without doubt the one with the most parts. Since I built my F-350 in two days including the paint job I really thought a three day fair would allow for a test drive before the closing. Boy was I in for a surprise...
I actually almost reached a rolling chassis by the end of the fair:
http://rsb.se/gallery/files/3/khh07.jpg
The gearbox was about to be greased and the propeller shaft were the only things missing in order to test drive it.
Once back home it was time to deal with the elctronics. For some reason Tamiya has decided that the Knight should use a much larger speaker box than the other trucks. In fact, so large that you will have to remove the seats and dashboard. I was omewhat surprised and started to browse the net and realized only very few trucks with the MFU have an interior. I definitely wanted to have the interior in mine so I simply used the speaker box intended for the King Hauler instead. This way I did not have to drill/saw/modify anything:
http://rsb.se/gallery/files/3/khelectr.jpg
When I testmounted the body I was dissappointed in the poor alignement of the body's front right wheel arch and the step plate. It appears that the parts holding it (Z2) are not entirely straight. I went online and noticed that this is a manufacturing flaw since most Knight Haulers had the same problem. It is easily fixed with a soldering iron/hot air gun. But still, this is the first Tamiya part I have ever had to modify myself in order to achieve a perfect fit - hence my surprise!
Since the windows are tinted I had to paint the interior with a brigher shade than my desired end result:
http://rsb.se/gallery/files/3/khdboard.jpg